SoCal High School & Prep Preview

High School Mini-Preview: O.C. Century League-
Foothill High--(November 27, 1997)

Foothill's going to be a lot better this year. Really. They couldn't get much worse than they were last year. Foothill only won six games the entire season, and did not win a single game in League play against teams such as Santa Ana Valley, El Modena, Canyon, Villa Park and Orange. They were really not a very good team. No, they were just not very good. They tried hard, but had little success to show for it. This year is going to be better. Really.

The team is coached by Bob Thate, who is in his fifth season with Foothill. Unfortunately for Thate, he's never had a winning season, and his teams have compiled a 38-67 record. Thate is a good coach, he just has not had the right chemistry or the right mix of players. His team this year will continue to be vertically challenged and will have difficulty against the tall trees from Villa, but just might have enough speed to surprise some people.

Here's a partial roster:

Lary Cambra (6'-1" Sr. G)
Jack Robbins (6'-2" Jr. F)
Ben Rubin (5'-7" Sr. G)
Chet Johnson (5'-11" Jr. G)
Lafayette Henderson (5'-10" Sr. G)
Alex Rasmussen (6'-4" So. F)
Drew Buford (6'-1" Jr. G)
Ryan Evans (6'-4" So. F)
Zach Smith (6'-3" So. F)

As you can see, this is not a particularly tall group, and does not have a true center listed among them, at least not on the partial roster released this last week. They are also guard-heavy, and will undoubtedly show a three wing set, with two of the bigger guys, probably Evans and Rasmussen down low, with Smith, Robbins and Cambra seeing significant time. Three starters are back from last year: Cambra, Robbins and guard Ben Rubin, so the team will have some seasoned players. The big question is whether it will be enough seasoning to get past the stiffer competition they'll see this year from El Modena, Canyon and Villa Park. Lafayette Henderson, is new to the team, having transferred from Las Vegas over the summer, while Rasmussen, played last year at La Verne Bonita High. Mind you, we haven't seen these guys play yet, so we have no real feel for how they play, but on paper they're going to need to be fast on the break, and swarming on defense if they want to have an impact in the crowded Century League. One thing we feel confident in saying though, is that they'll probably at least win one game in League play. They couldn't be worse than last year. We hope.

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